Quote:
Originally Posted by Terry
Is not a non-profit corporation an unholy marriage between human government and God's people? This is a case of, "Whom should we obey, men or God?" Is not money the motivating factor? We also ask, "Where does the Bible give human government the authority to define a church?"
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Not sure that this particular item is such a problem as has been suggested.
For starters, government does not define a church. It only defines the nature of the organizations that it will allow to operate somewhat outside of the regular tax system while allowing contributions to its operation to be tax-privileged to the contributor. That puts little in the way of limitation on the spiritual significance of a church while allowing it to operate in a manner that is less costly. This might more likely fall into a modern equivalent of the plundering of Egypt at the start of the exodus. If the government is willing to remove the tax cost from the operation of a church, then to the extent that the church can do as it needs within the somewhat limited restrictions put on it by the government, that is a plus. To the extent that there is a church that wants or needs to operate in such a way that it falls outside of the tax-favored rules, then it is free to continue, but without the benefits of "fitting in."
So I'm not sure I see the government defining what is or is not a church.
As to the money aspects in general, I think that the form of the organization (legally) is not the problem. Neither is the tax status afforded by the government. The problem is the greed of man to work every angle for personal benefit. Funny thing is that most of the famous money problems with preachers resulted in them getting fined or sent to prison. And in the few cases that they did not, they lost the respect and following of most of those who had been fleeced.
Unfortunately, Lee and company managed to get by without anyone seeing LSM's fees being used to pay off investors in private businesses that they managed to make a healthy profit from themselves. Seems the funds of a non-profit organization were diverted to the benefit of the organizers by paying-off those who could get them in deep trouble for their financial crimes (having nothing to do with the purpose of the non-profit — LSM).